Virtual Professional Development Opportunity - Clinical Conversations: Digital Currency & Gambling

Schedule: This virtual learning opportunity will take place on Wednesday, December 10, 2025 from 12:00pm - 1:30pm.

Join Katrina Arroyo, LPCC, LICDC-GAMB, ICGC-I and fellow gambling treatment professionals for an open forum and guided discussion on Digital Currency and Gambling. This conversation will focus on how crypto trading, betting with digital currencies, and emerging online platforms intersect with gambling disorder and addictive behaviors.

As cryptocurrency continues to blur the lines between investing, gaming, and gambling, clinicians are increasingly encountering clients whose engagement with digital assets mirrors patterns of problem gambling. This open forum invites clinicians to explore how crypto trading,  betting with digital currencies, and emerging online platforms intersect with gambling disorder and addictive behaviors. Specific focus will be given to;

• The psychological and behavioral parallels between crypto and gambling.
• Risk factors and vulnerabilities unique to digital financial markets.
• Clinical implications—how to assess, conceptualize, and treat crypto-related gambling behaviors.
• Ethical and cultural considerations in addressing these rapidly evolving actions

Note: This is an open, discussion-based session designed for learning and connection. As such, CEUs will not be provided.

Katrina Arroyo, M.Ed, LPCC, LICDC-GAMB, ICGC-I earned her Master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Kent State University in 2017. With a strong foundation in behavioral health, Katrina has developed a specialized focus on problem gambling. She currently serves as the Manager of Clinical Programs at the Problem Gambling Network of Ohio, where she supports statewide efforts to expand access to quality gambling treatment, training, and clinical support.

Click here to register!

Progress on Overdose Deaths Could Be Jeopardized by Federal Cuts, Critics Say

The Trump administration has made deep cuts to the main federal agency focused on fighting opioid addiction, potentially jeopardizing the nation’s recent progress on reducing overdose deaths, some public health officials and providers say.

Created in 1992, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, known as SAMHSA, hands out billions in grants for mental health and addiction services. The agency, which is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, had a budget of about $7.5 billion last year.

Since January, the Trump administration has reduced the agency’s staff by more than half, scrapped $1.7 billion in block grants for state health departments and eliminated roughly $350 million in addiction and overdose prevention funding, according to a recent analysis by STAT, a health news website. The agency is currently without an administrator and is missing 12 of its 17 senior leaders. The cuts come at a time of steady progress in the fight against opioid addiction. Overdose deaths have fallen consistently since 2023. As of April, the latest figures available, there were 76,500 deaths over the previous 12 months — the lowest year-over-year tally since March 2020. The pandemic drove the number as high as nearly 113,000 in the summer of 2023, according to federal statistics.

Congress Passed a Government Funding Package Ending the Longest Shutdown in History

This update, shared by our partners at the National Council for Mental Wellbeing, highlights key developments in Congress's recent government funding package.

On Wednesday, Nov. 12, Congress passed a government funding package ending the longest shutdown in history. The bill passed the Senate by a vote of 60-40 and the House by a vote of 222-209.

The bill (summary here, and full text here) will extend current funding levels for most federal agencies and programs through Jan. 30, 2026. The funding package includes three full-year appropriations bills that will fully fund the Department of Agriculture, Food and Drug Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs, military construction projects and operations of Congress through Sept. 30, 2026.

The bill guarantees backpay for furloughed workers, requires the administration to rehire federal workers who were laid off through reduction in force (RIF) efforts since Oct. 1, and prevents future RIFs during the CR (through Jan. 30, 2026).

Notably, this bill progressed despite lacking any extension of the Affordable Care Act premium tax subsidies (although Republican leadership has promised a December vote). These subsidies will expire on Dec. 31 absent further congressional action prior to that date. Members of both chambers are continuing active negotiations over a possible extension of the subsidies.

The funding package also extends Medicare telehealth flexibilities through Jan. 30, 2026. This includes delaying the requirement that patients receiving mental health services via telehealth must have at least one in-person visit in the six months preceding their first telehealth appointment. We anticipate that telehealth claims that have been on hold may be paid retroactive to Oct. 1. However, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will likely need to issue guidance clarifying whether these claims can be paid now, or if a provider rendered a service that held a claim on or after Oct.1, if it can now be submitted for reimbursement. We will keep you updated on any CMS guidance issued over the coming days.

States Hope to Use Rural Health Money to Keep Doctors, Combat Chronic Disease

In their competition for rural health care dollars from a new federal fund, states are seeking money to bolster emergency services, address chronic diseases, and recruit and train more doctors and nurses.

All 50 states submitted their applications to the federal government last week to get shares of the $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Program.

Congress created the program in response to concern from rural health care providers — as well as lawmakers on both sides of the aisle — about the effects of Medicaid cuts in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that President Donald Trump signed this summer.

A Stateline analysis of 10 states’ applications to the Rural Health Transformation Program found common focus areas, including expanding mobile health care access and bolstering emergency medical services. States also focused on chronic disease prevention programs, technological advancements, and rural clinician recruitment. Rural leaders say the infusion of federal dollars is welcome — but isn’t enough to offset Medicaid cuts.